Physiological parameter display devices are used in a variety of clinical settings to help caregivers learn various physiological parameters of patients. For example, a physiological parameter display device can be used in an operating room to monitor a patient's pulse rate, blood oxygen saturation level, body temperature, and blood pressure. In another example, a physiological parameter display devices can be used to spot check physiological parameters of patients.
In many cases, physiological parameter display devices use embedded operating systems to receive, process, and display data representing the current values of such physiological parameters. Such embedded operating systems typically do not permit more than one program to execute on the physiological parameter display devices concurrently. In other words, such embedded operating systems do not allow multiple-program execution. As a result, the functionality of the physiological parameter display devices is constrained while the physiological parameter display devices are displaying data representing current values of physiological parameters of patients.